Pain Tolerance, Arousal, and Personality Relationships of Athletes and Nonathletes

Abstract

Eighty-four subjects were randomly selected from intercollegiate sport groups of basketball, baseball, football linemen, football backs, track distance runners, track field and sprint men, and nonathlete males. Subjects submitted to a muscular endurance task employed to determine pain tolerance during which Galvanic Skin Response measures of arousal were obtained. The Bernreuter Personality Inventory was administered to each subject following the treatment. Data were treated by ANCOVA and discriminant analysis techniques for sport and nonsport group comparisons of pain tolerance, arousal, and personality. No differences were found among groups.